India bids farewell to the typewriter in drive to digitise economy

Though largely redundant in many parts of the world the familiar sound outside Indian courts and municipal buildings is often the clack of plastic keys and the punch of steel hitting inky ribbon.

In a country often stifled by its own bureaucratic safeguards, the sight of a notary public sat at a manual typewriter on the street has been a staple of Indian life despite more than two generations growing up with the computer keyboard.

But India’s financial capital has called for the final carriage return on these workhorses as Mumbai’s stenography and secretarial schools, numbering over 3,000, hold their last manual typing exams.

The state of Maharashtra intends to pursue the digitisation of its economy - in line with many other Indian states - so will look to replace the the margin bells with mouse pads as courts, police stations and civil service departments fall in line with the ‘new India’ of space research and IT hubs.

The manual typewriters will be replaced by computer keyboards as part of the 'Digital India' initiative run by Indian Government from 2015.Credit:
EPA

In day to day life, especially in the halls of officialdom, the lingua legal remains English and the format has been faithful to the typed document - often in triplicate.

Court affidavits, tenancy agreements, wills and property deeds will only be accepted if typed and notarised, and in a nation where literacy rates for people in their native tongue are low, English is often the preserve of the educated classes.

That is where the street typists come in - providing a service for between 20-30 rupees a page (35-40p) so that people without access to computers or English can go about their official business.

Clients wait as a typist prepares a petition outside a city court in MumbaiCredit:
AFP

It remains to be seen if ‘Digital India’ can step in as quickly and as efficiently as the type writers of Mumbai.